e
classics of their kind. They're almost required reading for anyone
who wants to learn Lani structure and function. The court rendered
an interim decision that the Lani were nonhuman, and armed with this,
Grandfather prepared the final tests which were run by a team of
court-appointed medics and biologists, who made in vitro and live tests
on a number of Lani female prisoners. The tests ran for over two years
and were totally negative. So the Alexander family acquired Flora and
the Otpens, and a legal status." Alexander stood up. "Well--that's a
capsule summary. The records are in the library if you'd care to check
them."

"Why?"

"Just to prove we're honest." He moved carefully toward the door, opened
it, and disappeared into the night.

Silently Kennon watched him descend the porch steps. He seemed steady
enough. For a moment Kennon debated whether he should see him home--and
then decided against it. If Alexander needed help he'd have asked for
it. As it was, it was better to leave things alone. Certainly he didn't
know Alexander well enough to act as a guardian. He turned back to the
living area. The stereo was playing something soft and nostalgic as
Kennon sank into the chair Alexander had vacated. He let his body relax.
It had been as full a day as he had ever spent filled with changes
so abrupt that they were exhausting. He felt confused. There were no
precedents he could apply. Neither his studies nor his travels had
prepared him for living in a situation like this.

Legally and biologically the Lani weren't human. But they were
intelligent, upright, bipedal mammals whose morphology was so close to
man's that it had taken the ultimate test to settle their status. And
being a Betan, Kennon was suspicious of the accuracy of that ultimate
test.

But the Brotherhood of Man was based upon it. The feeling of unity that
pervaded mankind's expanding empire was its product. From almost the
beginning of mankind's leap to the stars it had been recognized that men
must help each other or perish. The spirit of co-operation against the
common enmity of alien worlds and cultures transcended the old petty
rivalries on Earth. Men--all men--were brothers in arms.

And so the Brotherhood was born--and the concept born of necessity
developed its muscles in a thousand battles on a thousand hostile
worlds. And ultimately it evolved into the only form of central
authority that men would accept. Yet basically it was not a gover